Skewed Notions is pleased to host HorrorAddicts.net today and a new audio book for your horror enjoyment.
Music has the power to soothe the soul, drive people to obsession, and soundtrack evil plots. Is music the instigator of madness, or the key that unhinges the psychosis within? From guitar lessons in a graveyard and a baby allergic to music, to an infectious homicidal demo and melancholy tunes in a haunted lighthouse, Crescendo of Darkness will quench your thirst for horrifying audio fiction.
HorrorAddicts.net is proud to present fourteen tales of murderous music, demonic performers, and cursed audiophiles.
Please enjoy an excerpt below from Crescendo of Darkness.
“Six String Bullets” by Cara Fox
The pull of a busker’s song becomes too much for a young woman to resist.
Ashley Dunn had walked the same way to work for the last two years, but she never noticed the busker before. He was already as much a part of the bustling commuter street as the cars speeding past or the tattered street lamps shining brightly to pierce the early morning gloom, their beams throwing sharp relief on the rain. The busker blended in seamlessly, seated cross-legged, his back to the stone wall of the Victorian bank building, and his beaten-up guitar across his lap as he played. No one else spared him a glance, but she saw him.
Their eyes met through the crowd and Ashley’s heart missed a beat.
Something about him seemed familiar. She stepped out of the steady flow of people walking with their heads down and their minds lost to the working day ahead, breaking free of the crowd as the busker’s song grew louder and clearer with every step she took. It wasn’t his song that caught her attention, but the man himself. His crooked glasses and expensive looking suit weren’t a part of the usual busker uniform seen all over town.
The sounds of the crowd faded away as Ashley came to a hesitant halt in front of him, and the enigmatic busker’s song swelled in an instant to fill the void. It had no words, but he didn’t need words to express himself. The music alone was more than capable of that. She could swear she hadn’t heard the song before, but something about it was as familiar and natural as breathing. It spoke to her heart, stripping away everything until the busker and his song were all she knew. Her eyes closed as the music sped through her veins, dazing and rooting her in place. It was such a simple melody.
It shouldn’t be able to do that to me.
However many times she told herself, it made no difference. Her heart raced and her legs shook so wildly, she thought they might give way.
No.
Ashley drew a deep breath, but the moment her eyes opened, the busker’s own eyes locked onto hers and a fierce shudder rippled down her spine. Her breath caught in her throat. As she fought to steady herself against the unexpected burst of emotion, the music soared and intensified, each note a six string bullet cutting straight to her soul.
Tears filled her eyes. All she could see was the busker, and all she could hear was his song. She didn’t know how so many other people casually passed by without even glancing at him, but she found it impossible to look away.
The busker paid no heed to his captive audience. It was as if all he knew was the music, too. His guitar case was empty, but even when she impulsively emptied her pockets into it, he didn’t miss a beat.
The gentle clinking of the coins against each other jolted Ashley back to her senses, realising she was soaked to the bone. Strange. The rain wasn’t heavy. No one was even carrying an umbrella. It would’ve taken hours for her to be so drenched.
Hours… She glanced down at her wristwatch.
Shit.
The spell broken, she turned on her heel and sped down the street, flinging apologies in all directions as she pushed past the morning commuters and dashed toward her office.
*********************************
To read the rest of this story and thirteen
other horror music shorts, check out:
Direct link: https://www.amazon.com/Crescendo-Darkness-Jeremiah-Donaldson/dp/1987708156
Edited by Jeremiah Donaldson
Cover by Carmen Masloski
HorrorAddicts.net Press
Let music unlock your fear within.
Really? You have? Well, don’t be the one to say so in your ads. One of the things that will totally turn me off a book is an ad/promo like this one WHEN POSTED TO A WRITER’S SOCIAL MEDIA AND WRITTEN BY THE WRITER HIM/HERSELF: This is a great book for horror readers! OR This is a wonderful book for children ages three to five.
When I promote other writers’ books, I might very well say the same things, but when a writer says that about his/her own book, it sounds desperate or self-aggrandising. I mean, what writer doesn’t think his/her own book is great and wonderful? Still, let others toot your horn; don’t do it yourself.
Let your readers say how wonderful, amazing, insightful, awe-inspiring, great, moving, and hilarious (all words I’ve seen just in the last few months applied by writers to their own work) your book is.
Photo credit: Patrick_Denker at EveryStockPhoto.com
Photo by Richard Edwards Free Pictures A to Z
I recently did an interview with the wonderful Tonia Brown. She is one terrific writer. And she can ask some off-the-wall questions. I had a lot of fun with this interview.
Here’s a link to it: A Word With Mary Ann Peden-Coviello — Tonia Brown
Photo credit: Richard Edwards at AZFreePictures.com
One of the few things that people talk about, when talking about brand and social media is that it’s a minefield. People talk about everything from being completely overwhelmed, to not knowing what to do with their profiles. And so, I wrote 12 tutorials (and a couple of bonus exercises to help people.
Each tutorial contains an introduction, the ‘basics’, the exercise, and then a bit about what your ‘solution’ should be. They’re not designed to be the be all and end all of each network, but they are designed to support you if you’re struggling, or aren’t sure that you’ve covered everything.
I’ve kept the price low so that you can enjoy the book without feeling like you’ve had to pay a fortune for just a couple of tips too – though I could have priced it higher, I feel $0.99 is the right price for this.
Launching on the 28th February, until it’s available, you can pre-order from my blog page at Warpaint Marketing.
12×12 – Your social media Primer
Looking for support for Facebook, Twitter, Triberr? How about G+?
This book covers everything that you need to know about the very basics of each network. Exercises to give you a chance to try your learning out, hands on.
Each of the tutorials is designed to be as easy as possible to access.
Originally started a set of articles for a website, the tutorials have evolved into a go to guide to the simple, quick way to build an usable, safe profile online.
Kai Viola
Kai is a veteran online marketer. She started in internet marketing, writing content for others, along with copywritten sales pages, then moved on to the indie writer’s community when KDP hit. She’s been self-publishing since 2004 (mostly poetry), and has spent the last three years or so in the community, helping others with social media, writing tutorials and articles all over.
When not writing non-fiction, Kai’s planning novels, travelling for work and having a bit of an adventure in her life. She’s the mother of two parents, owner and parent of two kittens, an artist and a dreamer.
As the book is about social media, you might want to follow Kai to find out some extra tips. Below are the various places you can follow her – remember too that these count as entries in the giveaway!
Buy the Book
(pre-order which will switch to Amazon)
Win all of the books from the range, take part in beta support and get freebies before anyone else or a $25 gift certificate. Check out the Rafflecopter below.
Kai is appearing on multiple blogs in the next few days – head on over to The Finishing Fairies for tour central, information and more!
Promotion of 12×12 Launch Tour is brought to you by:
Join us for other book blasts at The Finishing Fairies mailing list!
Yeah, I’m shamelessly self-promoting again. Sekhmet Press has made me their Woman in Horror for today. This link will take you to an article I wrote for them and an interview I did with them.
Sekhmet Press is a relatively new small press, but one that’s doing very well and gaining a considerable reputation for putting out a high quality product and treating their authors well.
Mary Ann Peden-Coviello, A Woman in Horror
Photo credit: Bansidhe at everystockphoto.com
I’ve never been terribly fond of talking (or writing, which amounts to the same thing, doesn’t it?) about myself. But I suppose I need to put something explanatory here.
I’m a writer. I write slightly snarky, humourous vampire stories, mostly set in the US South. I also write flat-out horror, often featuring my own version of zombies, and still often set in the US South. Then there are non-horror, non-vampire stories that come out of nowhere.
Fright Mare: Women Write Horror Edited by Billie Sue Mosiman
